Talking to Teachers

I believe that keeping a dialogue with professors is very important. When I first arrived here at Western and took some of the very large lecture classes, I felt like just another face in the crowd -- never talked in class, never introduced myself to professors etc. But once I've gotten higher up in my education and class sizes have decreased, it feels like a much more intimate environment. I make a point to always participate in class, go to office hours if I need help, or sometimes just to bounce ideas around.

Although I do believe that many professors don't seem very accessible  to students. When going over course syllabi, while the office hours are mentioned, most professors that I have always inform the class that the best way to reach them is via e-mail. Perhaps if professors explicitely mention that they welcome students to come by during office hours (even just to chat), it would make students feel more comfortable doing so.

i completely agree with you on the fact that as we progress through our majors and as student numbers decrease per class, that the experience is much more personable, intimate, fun, and engaging.  if i could choose, i would make it required that every class at western be no more than 40 people,  :)  simply because everyone i've ever talked to about it, enjoys their smaller classes....they feel like they can establish more of a relationship with their professor, easily make friends in class through discussion or group projects, and not feel as though they are just a little "western ID number". 

as for professors keeping to their office hour promises, i have actually had good luck.  but i can imagine that when a student shows up with a question that they really need answered in order to write a paper and he/she is not in their office, that that would be very stressful and frustrating.  besides, i don't think questions necessarily get answered thoroughly enough via email.  like in most situations, face-to-face communication seems to be the most sufficient route.  

does anyone enjoy large, lecture hall classes more than smaller classroom classes?   

I am going to agree with the status quo here; smaller classes are a more favorable option. However, I am wondering if they are possible to have with today's struggling economy. During these tougher times, even the university's budget has been affected as a result. It is hard to try and keep a quality education when we cannot even afford to pay the instructors what they truly deserve. Obviously, as students we do not want to pay more for tuition, so how can we find the money to improve our education quality?

We talked about this issue lightly in my TLA group, and one of the other members thought we could save money to pay the staff by cutting down on unneccessary costs. For example, turning out the lights of the buildings that are empty. This would cut down on energy costs significantly and the money could be put to better use. Do any other people have ideas about how to raise more money for quality education so that we can reduce class sizes?

i had a prof that on blackboard they put an FAQ section. and in the beginning of the quarter it is blank. but as the quarter goes on questions fill up. and they are questions from students either ones that were not answered during class. or questions submitted by an anonymous feedback forum that is integrated into blackboard.

i found that this was an easy way to get help without being embarrassed to ask questions. some students are intimidated by seeking help. so this made it a lot less stressful. i think other prof should employ this same technique, especially if they use blackboard where the technology is already there

I had a professor who had a mandatory 15-minute office hour for each person in the beginning of the year, just to get to know us.  This was an FYE, so it was a rather small class, but maybe Professors who want to get to know thier students should try something like that? Just an idea...

Grayce

I like the idea that the professor takes the time to get to know all of his/her students. I do not know if it is realistic for teachers to take the time to meet with every one of their students since class sizes can be so large, but it is worth a try. Maybe to cut back on the amount of time -or just to make it more effectively spent- the professor could have the students fill out a sheet with revealing information regarding such topics as: what they would like to get out of the class, some background biographical information, what they want to do with their future, and any other fun questions that would spark a conversation that would make the professor and student grow closer and start to understand each other better. Commonly, we focus on how the professor can educate the students, but I know from personal experience that the students have a thing or two to offer as well. We can both learn from one another if we make an honest effort; resultingly, our education quality would improve from the new wholistic understanding of the dynamic between professor and student.  

I think the most important element here is student initiative. Professors are required to have office hours, but you'd be amazed at how few students use them. I talked to one professor recently who had a class of 200+ and not one person from that class has contacted them this quarter. Professors are an *amazing* resource for class or outside of class, students just have to take the time to get to know them and have the courage to start a dialogue!